skunk.
Any of various mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black coat with white markings and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.
Meaning & usage
Any of various mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black coat with white markings and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.
A despicable person.
Anything very bad; a stinker.
A walkover victory in sports or board games, as when the opposing side is unable to score.
A win by thirty or more points. (A double skunk is sixty or more, a triple skunk ninety or more.)
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Algonquian *šek- Proto-Algonquian *-a·kw- Proto-Algonquian *-a Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa Eastern Algonquianbor. English skunk Borrowed from an unattested Southern New England Eastern Algonquian word cognate with Abenaki segôgw (literally “he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.
To spray someone with a strong-smelling liquid.
To defeat so badly as to prevent any opposing points.
I skunked him at cards.
We fished all day but the lake skunked us.
To win by thirty or more points.
To go bad, to spoil.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Algonquian *šek- Proto-Algonquian *-a·kw- Proto-Algonquian *-a Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa Eastern Algonquianbor. English skunk Borrowed from an unattested Southern New England Eastern Algonquian word cognate with Abenaki segôgw (literally “he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.
A member of a hybrid skinhead and punk subculture.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)kenH- Proto-Germanic *skinþąder. Middle English skyn English skin substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap-? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput Proto-Germanic *haubudą Old English hēafod Middle English heed English head English skinhead English punk blend ▲ English skunkinflu. English skunk Blend of skinhead + punk, influenced by the animal (Etymology 1).
Clipping of skunkweed, type of marijuana.
Any of the strains of hybrids of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica that may have THC levels exceeding those of typical hashish.
Where this word comes from
From skunkweed (“certain highly aromatic marijuana”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.